Florina Isabel Justine Whitehouse sentenced for defrauding Souths League Club, Mackay

A mother of two who was a sports club duty manager rigged member draws to benefit her family, defrauding the business of more than $20,000.

A Mackay mother of two who ripped a sports club for more than $20,000 said she knew eventually she’d get caught.

A Mackay mother of two who ripped off a sports club for more than $20,000 said she knew eventually she’d get caught.

Florina Isabel Justine Whitehouse, 37, was working at the Souths League Club as duty manager from September 30, 2021 to February 20, 2022 when she rigged the member’s draw three times.

Mackay Magistrates Court heard the winners were Whitehouse’s sisters and her partner, who won a cash prize.

On September 30 her sister won $6800, on November 18 her partner won $7000 and on February 20 another sister won $8900.

None of Ms Whitehouse’s family members were ever charged with an offence.

As a result police charged the Mackay mum, who then did not appear in court prompting an arrest warrant for Whitehouse - she was not found until 2024.

She pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud and two charges of failure to appear.

ATSILS solicitor Robyn Cathcart said Whitehouse had two children aged 17 and 14 and she was a single mother with sole responsibility for both her children.

“She’s still working at Moss on Wood as an overnight manager,” Ms Cathcart said.

“That job will now cease.”

Whitehouse managed to rig the draws so they selected her family and partner, awarding them thousands of dollars.

Ms Cathcart said Whitehouse’s life was “spiralling out of control” at the time of the offending and that her client had even found someone deceased in the toilets at her workplace.

Magistrate Damien Dwyer asked, “What’s that got to do with it?”.

“Because she found someone dead she went and ripped off $20,000 and given it to her family?” he said.

Mr Dwyer said Whitehouse’s offending was “particularly bad” in his view, as she was a trusted employee at Souths.

“The amount you took was significant, in excess of $24,000,” Mr Dwyer said.

“It was greed... I don’t accept that nobody else knew anything about it.”

Mr Dwyer said Whitehouse knew her actions were wrong and she was going to get caught and said she had not paid “one cent” in restitution in the years since the offending.

Whitehouse was sentenced to a 30 month term of imprisonment, Magistrate Dwyer ordered that to be suspended after six months served and convictions were recorded.

“You went missing for some almost four years... the offending, in my view, was particularly bad,” he said.

“When you were interviewed you said you didn’t know why you did it... you knew it was wrong and you were going to get caught.”